Rohtang tunnel sealed after Lahaul residents enter without permit

Few residents even lost consciousness while trying to cross the tunnel.

MANALI: About 60 Lahaul residents forcibly entered the under-construction Rohtang tunnel from its north portal after breaching security late on Monday, following which the Lahaul administration sealed the tunnel. The residents, who wanted to reach Manali, had been waiting outside the tunnel's north portal since 5am. With the Rohtang pass closed due to snowfall and the Border Roads Organisation refusing to clear the road before March citing safety hazards, people presumed the tunnel to be the best available route for Manali as hundreds of citizens had already travelled via the tunnel. However, after waiting for the whole day in sub-zero temperature without food, the residents forcefully entered the tunnel around midnight, but some of them lost consciousness midway due to suffocation. The security breach prompted the Lahaul administration to send the residents back home with police help and seal the 8.8km-long tunnel. Terming the forced entry as a "suicide attempt", Border Roads Organisation has asked the Lahaul-Spiti administration to take legal action against those who incited people to enter the under-construction tunnel without caring for their safety and security. Residents claimed that agriculture minister Ram Lal Markanda had asked them to gather at the tunnel portal and assured that he would take them with him. When some vehicles entered the tunnel with the minister, the group decided to go ahead without permission. "The minister had said he'd arrange our entry into the tunnel. When he came, he promised to get a permit for us and went inside with four other vehicles. However, when we followed, the tunnel management said nobody took permission for us," said Ram Nandi, who is recuperating in hospital. Having stood in the cold without food for the whole day, we decided to enter the tunnel on our own. After walking for about 5km, we felt suffocated and some of us fainted," he added. The Rohtang tunnel project management has made it clear that it is dangerous to enter the under-construction tunnel, but residents are making long queues outside both ends of the tunnel. Lahaul-Spiti deputy commissioner Ashwani Kumar Chawdhary said the north portal has been sealed and a police post set up there to avoid further breaches. "The tunnel management alleged that some people incited others to clash with security personnel and used women to lead the group into the tunnel. The chief engineer has identified some of them and sent a list to initiate legal action. I had to send an SDM with two buses to bring back the people from the tunnel at midnight," he said. Every year Lahaul becomes landlocked after snow blocks all connecting roads. Rohtang pass, Baralacha pass and Kunzum pass, that connect the valley with the outer world becomes unsafe, pushing residents to take measures to get out of the valley.